New Zealand - is ten days enough?

cottager83 · 11-09-2011 8:40pm #1

Folks, thinking of heading to new zealand next summer, have a wedding in sydney and was then going to nz (flying into queenstown) for ten days as have to be back home for work, would I be better off staying in the south island or would I cover it all in ten days? thanks

catbear · 11-09-2011 8:49pm

As much as you'd like to get it all in I'd say get around south island in ten days. When you say next summer, do you mean Irish summer?

Scenery is spectacular in all seasons although access across the southern alps may be limited in their winter/our summer. I was on south island for two weeks but I'm planning on returning for two months at least. I'm an outdoors enthusiast so that might colour my opinion.

cottager83 · 11-09-2011 9:08pm

Thanks for the reply, ya thinking of next July so will be winter there, is south island the main area for activities? like yourself I am a big outdoors enthusiast, would you be able to list some of the activities that can be done? cheers

catbear · 11-09-2011 9:39pm

Yeah, pity you're going when you are. I love hiking and that would be more the warmer seasons but I hear there good winter hiking if you're experienced. Queenstown is good for adventure sports in all seasons.

Ten days is really a taster I'm afraid. Just bring a good camera is all I can advise. Try this site for tramping; http://tramper.co.nz/

I loved NZ after the two weeks I had there and I've been planning a return trip for the last five years, next year (their spring) is looking good. Enjoy your trip though and I hope the wedding is fun. If you like he outdoors then prepared to be bewitched by NZ. That was the big difference for me between NZ and OZ, NZ is more compact and you see more in a shorter time plus there's good climate variations.

lg123 · 12-09-2011 10:16am

10 days is better than none but its not near enough.

cottager83 · 12-09-2011 8:27pm

ya thats true i guess, thinking of hiring a camper van and driving the south island, what are the main outdoor activities that people go for out there? cheers

pclancy · 15-09-2011 4:37am

Its a big place and distances don't properly reflect how long it takes to drive. Two weeks will give you a taster of a couple of areas but not enough time to see the lot in much detail. Sometimes you won't get above 50kmh for hours due to tightly winding mountain roads that go on forever. So a drive that on paper looks about 2 hours can turn into 5

Its an amazing place with lots of wilderness and isolation. Activities include hiking, mountaineering, skiing, kayaking, lots more hiking etc

New Zealand - is ten days enough?

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